On Beauty is neither a history of art nor a history of aesthetics but Umberto Eco draws on both these disciplines to define the ideas of beauty that have informed us from the classical world to modern times In terms of form & style On Beauty has been conceived for a vast & diverse readership Packed with examples from painting sculpture architecture film photography the decorative arts & literature it offers a rich & intelligent panorama of this huge subject In On Beauty Eco is at his most captivating & eclectic we read not only of Botticelli & Michelangelo but of how much the fashion of the 1960s owes to ancient Egyptian dress & how ancient Roman & eighteenth-century hairstyles have much in common It makes the familiar new & sheds a brilliant light on the unfamiliar On Beauty is illustrated in full colour throughout & produced to the highest standards